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Author
Topic: Massage Therapy as Treatment (Read 1630 times)

Hi, I am forever continuing my education, and currently learning to become a massage therapist. In one of my books I was reading about the benefits of massage for HIV. I was wondering if anyone has consistently sought massage therapy, and found results in relation to their HIV? A former partner of mine was POZ, and I would like to work closely with the HIV community.

Massage is a great, but sensual and erotic massage is even better...oh where was I going with this...

I believe it would be considered a complementary therapy such as accupucture and the like. Not really a treatment but helps with the stress. I hope you aren't thinking massage is going to heal or slow the progression of the disease. I do commend you that you are considering working with our "population" but it would be even more "karmic" if you volunteered your services at a local ASO.

Thanks, everybody! No, I know massage could not "cure" HIV... Although, in one of the books I have, it discussed studies which showed massage affected the Natural Kill cells. An effect of massage is strengthening the immunity system, which could obviously be beneficial. And yeah, the stress reduction! Stress heavily affects our immunity systems.

Furthermore, I do plan to contact local organizations and see how else I can get involved, as a massage therapist or otherwise.

My former partner was POZ. I remain negative. But HIV has still become a much larger part of my life. I learned from my ex what the benefits of massage could be through experience with him.

Another question: Do you think there is a need for massage therapists who, I don't know, "specialize" in clients with HIV or who are openly POZ-friendly?

Yes. I offered bodywork in Manhattan for 15 years and can assure you that too many gay male practitioners refused to touch/work on hiv positive clients who came to me, even though I did not advertise that I was hiv positive. Sometimes it was simply their diagnosis (think of date rejection upon disclosure). Sometimes it was a skin infection. Bodywork, unlike massage, allows a practitioner to move into erotic/sensual areas of touch (which is not permissible with your massage practice) and here male-on-male touch reconnected my hiv positive clients with their sexual beings, clients who may have been afraid of sex, afraid of rejection over sex, lost in feeling asexual. Any outreach to hiv positive men and women in the world of touch is welcome.

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Winthrop Smith has published three collections of poetry: Ghetto: From The First Five; The Weigh-In: Collected Poems; Skin Check: New York Poems. The last was published in December 2006. He has a work-in-progress underway titled Starting Positions.